Raymarine has announced today that it has been approached by a third party which it claims may or may not lead to an offer being made for the entire issued share capital of Raymarine at approximately 3.6 pence per share, IBI magazine reports.

Raymarine’s share price has been on the rise over the past couple of weeks. Following rumours of the sale shares peaked at 6.35 pence on December 17, then dropped to 1.61 pence on December 21, rallying marginally to a 2.9 pence peak on December 30. The share price has remained on or below that level until today. They are now at 4.00 pence per share.

The Potential Offer is at an early stage and is subject to, amongst other things, the completion of satisfactory due diligence. There can be no certainty that the Potential Offer will be made even if due diligence is completed satisfactorily, nor as to the terms on which the Potential Offer might be made.

According to a statement from Raymarine, the Raymarine board continues to progress discussions regarding a possible sale of Raymarine Holdings Limited in parallel with discussions regarding the Potential Offer. Raymarine and its banking syndicate remain in constructive discussions in relation to an extension to the Group’s existing banking facilities which are currently scheduled to expire on 31 March 2010.

On 18 December 2009, the Raymarine board announced it was entering into exclusive discussions with a single party over the possible sale of the business and assets of the company. In that announcement, the board indicated the proposed transaction would be structured by means of a sale of Raymarine Holdings Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raymarine, and that it was not anticipated there would be any value remaining for ordinary shareholders.